STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Rev. Richard Veras of St. Rita's R.C. Church is leading thousands on the Way of the Cross through Brooklyn and Manhattan while other reenactments are being held on Staten Island to commemorate Good Friday.

The Way of the Cross is a traditional Catholic procession recalling the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Fr. Veras, pastor of the Meiers Corners church, led the 18th annual Communion and Liberation lay movement procession which began this morning at St. James Cathedral in Brooklyn, then crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan with stops at City Hall Park, then on to the site of the World Trade Center attacks before ending at St. Peter's R. C. Church on Barclay Street early Friday afternoon.

The Brooklyn-Manhattan event included Gospel readings, choral music and religious readings. Father Veras is a chaplain to Communion and Liberation which is an international movement devoted to "the living presence of Christ in the Catholic Church" founded by the late Monsignor Luigi Giussani in 1954 and is active in 70 countries and many cities in the United States.

On Staten Island, the tradition is especially popular with Mexican immigrants. Immaculate Conception R.C. Church parishioners wearing colorful costumes reenacted Jesus carrying his cross on the way to his crucifixion on the streets of Stapleton around noon on Friday. Parishioners of St. Mary of the Assumption R.C. Church in Port Richmond will hold a Way of the Cross procession beginning at about 5:30 p.m. at Christ the King Chapel on Park Avenue and ending at St. Mary's on Richmond Terrace.